JPS61501303A - Communication method with dynamically assigned phone buttons - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Communication method with dynamically assigned phone buttons The present invention relates to telephone communication systems, and more particularly, to a method and circuit for dynamically assigning buttons on a telephone. Regarding.

Background technology Some traditional communication systems open the first type of call (those using shared equipment). a general call appearance (CA) button to initiate a second type of call (specific If you use a multi-button telephone with a dedicated CA button for starting Ru. In some such systems, the number of CA buttons on the telephone set is More than the number of telephones handled by the system. The phone user To be able to access all of these central lines, the CA button is dynamically assigned. There are no buttons assigned to the given station line.

Instead, the CA button changes depending on whether a call is made or received. are assigned in a predetermined order.

In these systems, each dedicated CA button typically supports multiple secondary call types. Assigned for each. These dedicated CA buttons are of the second type. Used for both purposes of sending and receiving telephone calls.

KHl e.g. the dial used when making these second type telephone calls Specify a plan (automatic, intercom), simplify billing procedures (secondary extension) and a dedicated CA button is used to access specific equipment (dedicated station line). Ru. When terminating a telephone call, use the Dedicated CA to indicate who the caller wants to reach (secondary extension coverage) button is used.

In some systems with dynamically assigned CA buttons and dedicated CA buttons. Some call features, such as conferences, can be accessed from dynamically assigned CA buttons. This is accomplished differently depending on whether it is initiated or from a dedicated CA button. Ru. This can result in conferences being canceled due to central office line subscribers dropping their intercom connections. Even after the conference has ended, the CA button dedicated to the conference often remains connected. arise. Therefore, in the conventional technology, when using a conference call and a call transfer function, , prohibit certain operation sequences, or set the dedicated CA button to be indeterminate. This will cause user confusion.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to enable each telephone user to have consistent access to various call types. The aim is to provide a communication system that allows access to Yet another purpose is users can initiate these call types using phones with only a generic CA button. The goal is to be able to do so.

Summary of the invention These objects of the invention are based on whether the call is of the first type or the second type. The same set of generic call appearance (CA) buttons on multi-button telephones, regardless of the in a telephony system by dynamically allocating all calls using Realized. To assist in terminating or initiating a second type of telephone call , there is an optional function (FF) button (this also replaces the dedicated CA button). (or may provide other call features of the system). all Because the same call type appears as a group of CA buttons, calls such as conference or transfer Such actions are triggered in the same way for all call types. Generic call appearancer conferences are not associated with a primary function (e.g. dedicated central office line). and transfers do not leave call appearances ambiguous. Main departure According to another feature of the invention, the system receives a predetermined one of the second call type. One of the phone's CA buttons may be reserved for this purpose.

These features, objects, operations and methods of use of the present invention will be explained in the following description with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 shows an entire system with several multi-button telephones. Diagram of stem configuration; FIG. 2 is a diagram of a multi-button telephone used in the invention; FIG. 3 is a diagram of a telephone according to the invention. Comparison of visual display and prior art systems; Figures 4 to 6 show various translation and status clothing used in the present invention; FIGS. 7-12 are typical program flow diagrams of the present invention.

General explanation - Background technology Before proceeding with the general description set out in the claims, it is important to understand the system in which the features of the present invention can be utilized. It is useful to provide a general explanation of the entire system. There are many such functions. It can be used in any number of similar systems, and here we will focus on one type of system. Please note that we only provide background information about the system. Furthermore, this communication system system functionality with different hardware constraints and different programming techniques. details of the entire program used to control the entire system. I won't go into details here. Doing something like this will make the problem unclear and , there is a risk of making the calligraphy unnecessarily long.

The numbers shown here are designed for specific response times and memory requirements; It is not optimal for all such systems.

The invention described and claimed herein may be used in any communications system. In order to be able to In addition, it is necessary to arrange the system so that it can be combined with the functions and operations of such a system. It is clear to those skilled in the art that this is necessary. Therefore, in order to prevent confusion and to assist those skilled in the art To take advantage of the invention claimed in this specification, this specification describes a communication system using the invention. The focus is on developing a deeper understanding of the issues and constraints in the system. This statement is Tables and flowcharts showing the logical steps required for realization and integration into the communication system The structure described in the claims can be used to characterize the operation of the invention using One such communication system is a stored program control system for telephones. , a business communication system. Figure 1 shows some of the new functions included in the present invention. Additionally, it may provide normal key system functionality (hold, visibility, conferencing, etc.). It shows a block diagram of a system like this.

The general operation of the nine system illustrated in FIG. 1 is as follows. any change in condition There is also a port processor (e.g. 14) connected to the telephone (e.g. SL). or detected by a port processor (e.g. 15) K connected to the central office trunk. be done. This change information is transferred to the bus interface via the control channel on the time division multiplexed bus 13. The interface processor 12 is notified. Bus interface processor 1. 2 demultiplexes this information over bus 13 and communicates this state change to call processor 1o. I can do it. Call processor 10 operates under the control of a program stored in memory 11. make The call processor 1o receives current state data (state data) stored in the memory 11. Interpret state changes and update system configuration data (translation data) system interface processor 12 and port processors 14-17. To update the status of system memory 11 and telephones S1-5M and 5N-3Z. issue the appropriate command. The present invention uses the multi-button telephone shown in FIG. A method and apparatus for controlling various system call functions is directed.

FIG. 2 depicts a typical telephone (e.g., S l) is illustrated. A four-pair cable connects the phone to a port processor (e.g. For example, it is connected to 14). Keypad 201 provides telephone dialing functionality. provide a first type for initiating a first type of call (i.e. a central office line call); The drop-down button is shown at 210. used to initiate the first type of call. A typical central office call appearance CA button is shown at location 202 and is marked with a green strip. Includes status light emitting diode (LED) 203 and red in-use LED 204. Ru.

A typical special function (FF') button is illustrated at location 209 and marked with a green sticker. Contains task LE0208.

This second type of group of buttons includes FF buttons (e.g. intercom, simplification of billing procedures, second extension) and equipment for each access (e.g. dedicated office line). ``Initiate a second type of call handled by a telephone that includes'' or Used to indicate the presence of an incoming special feature call. Hand other than FF button This second type of call is also Note that you can start For a given application, if the FF button/ If the purpose of the LED (207) is only to indicate incoming calls, press the FF button on the telephone. You may replace it with the alphanumeric representation above.

The telephone includes a conference button 206 that is used to initiate the conference function of the system. A third type of button called dedicated button or function start button 205 There is. To start a special function, use other means than this dedicated button (e.g. Note that one or more hook flashes may be used. . However, for the purposes of this invention, if the system must have these dedicated functions, For example, the phone may have dedicated buttons or other means to initiate these dedicated functions. It does not need to have steps.

Before describing the present invention in detail, it will be explained that the non-general purpose appearance button of the present invention has been compared with the prior art. It is useful to compare this with the dedicated call appearance button of the system. No. Referring to Figure 3, Tom is a user of a telephone with a private central office line (PCO). are doing. 301 is the non-generic appearance disclosed herein. A telephone panel with buttons and lamps or LED devices.

Shown as 302 has a dedicated call appearance button and LED device. This is a conventional panel.

During the idle state, all LEDs on both devices are lit as shown at 303 and 304. It's off. When ROM calls an external party using its private central office line (PCO) If the phone is a phone with a non-general purpose appearance, the phone has a 305 dedicated call appearance. For the second phone, the LED on the phone appears to be blank, as shown at 306. dedicated call On Appearance phone 306, only the LED of the PCo dedicated button is turned on. , whereas in the case of general appearance 305, the status about PCo 1-use of LED and general purpose appearance button and status LED are turned on Become. In accordance with the present invention, any call is made independent of the type of call. This occurs because it is dynamically assigned to the balance button. Therefore, in 305, A call on a PCO line is assigned and the connection is made through call appearance location A. It is done. If the ROM conferences the internal party on this call through the intercom line, Even when connected, the LEDs are not visible in both general and dedicated appearances. remains the same as shown at 305 and 306.

If the person outside the PCO line hangs up and Tom and the person on the line If you continue, the LED of each phone is shown in 307 and 308. looks similar to. If, according to the invention, this applies to a non-generic appearance button, When this occurs, the PCo line and its associated trunk return to the idle state and the , rom and the internal party are kept on line A. Therefore, the state of the LED is The true state for line A (i.e., blocked) and line PCO (i.e., free) show. However, in the case of a dedicated appearance, the LED condition is that the other party is on the receiver. Note that the conference state does not change from the conference state 306 when it is set. As a result This will cause confusion for telephone users.

Further at 308, line PCO indicates that the condition indicated by the LED is In PCO, if the condition is not true, it becomes an ambiguous state. exclusive In case of appearance 308, the PCO line and its trunk circuit are kept plugged. This must be done by Tom through the appearance of the dedicated PCO line. This is because you are talking to an internal party. Therefore, the other party on the line PCO ends the call. Even when Tom is actually talking to an internal party and the line PCO is Even if it is empty, the PCO appearance LED will indicate that Torn is passing through the line PCO. This will give an indication that you are talking to an outside party. This ambiguity When an incoming call arrives on Tam's PCO line, it will be decoded.

The above-mentioned ambiguous situation is caused by a conference call being a dedicated call like the above-mentioned PCO line. Occurs only when associated with the lance button. Similarly, the second extension, automatic com and other dedicated appearance buttons used in conjunction with the general appearance line. Similar ambiguities arise when the term is used. If a conference call requires two general If peer lines are related, no ambiguity arises. According to the invention , all calls are of their type (i.e., central office line, private office line (PCO), second extension, automatic intercom, etc.) are treated the same and therefore ambiguous. does not occur.

In accordance with the present invention, the system provides data as illustrated in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6. data structure. In Figure 4, each telephone (STA-1 to 5TA-N) , the phone translation table and associated phone button status tables 402-405 are Set. In FIG. 5, each telephone 5TA-1 to 5TA-N of the system The phone status table is configured for It is initialized by setting the call rD to the lock state and setting the call rD to the null state. In Figure 6 In this case, the call status table shows the call number (call rD) and each call (call-1 to call-M). Set to remember associated telephone sets.

Returning to Figure 4, for each telephone, for example 5TA-IK, the telephone user Telephone translation table 4 to match the number and type of buttons that handset 5TA-1 has. A phone with 01 waiting for 7 lance (CA) buttons and 24 function (F'F) buttons. , the telephone translation table requires 34 button contents. if If the button (for example, button 1 on 5TA-1) is a non-general appearance button, Then, the content of Type I in the telephone translation table becomes call appearance (CA), The dress word (A1) is entered. This address word A1 is the telephone 5TA- 1 refers to a button translation table (402) containing status information of button 1. this pro The process is repeated for each call appearance button on telephone 5TA-1. CA Bo For the tan translation table (402, 403 and 404), ■-use is set to off state. initialized to the idle state with status off and call ID set to null. Ru. The telephone illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4 has 10 call appearances (CA). button and 24 function (FF) buttons, but the phone can have any number of buttons. It is envisaged that it may contain tan.

For each function (FF) button (11 to 34), see the telephone translation table 401. It has content. For each function (FF) button, there is one call type I content.

The call type is encoded by matching the call type desired by the user for that button. It is. The function (FF) button is for dedicated station line, intercom, and automatic intercom. You can select call types, such as an extension or a secondary extension. Other fields in the phone translation table is an address pointing to the button translation table +404-405) related to each FF button. Includes dresses (A11-A34). In the example shown in the figure, the calls are as shown in Table 406. Type 2a is an intercom call and various dial plans 1-4 are shown. Ru. Call type 26 indicates a leased office line call, and various office lines 1-Y are shown in table 407. . Table 408 shows billing numbers 1-Z used on the secondary office line and is called call type 2C. Ru.

In addition, the central office line must enter information in the breath type I field on the telephone translation table. Therefore, it can be realized as a dedicated line above the FF button. In response to this , so that the address pointer of that table points to the button status table of that OFF button. It can be done. The button status of all function (FF) buttons is STATE. It is initialized by setting the call ID to OFF and the call ID to NULL. This process is a system repeated for all buttons on all phones in the phone. Figures 4 and 5 After the data structures shown in Figure 6 and Figure 6 have been set up, these data structures can be used to function will be activated.

These data structures correspond to the 10 call appearance buttons and 24 function buttons in Figure 2. A telephone with a tongue is described. For various phone types It is obvious how to create such a table. These tables are If the phone is empty (i.e. buttons 11-34 have no content in Figure 4) or It can also be used for telephones with varying numbers.

As you read the detailed description below, please keep two things in mind. Firstly, In the flowchart and explanation below, the presence of function buttons on the phone set is It is not a prerequisite. Therefore, the operation of the system changes depending on the presence or absence of the FF button. It won't hurt. This allows phone set users to (intercom, secondary extension, and leased office line) without the need for function buttons. (such as) can answer incoming special calls. Second, all call types i.e., the same flowcharts and explanations apply for the first and second types of calls). be done. There are many operational differences between phones for each of these call types. . This allows you to develop and maintain a single sequence of operations. , the communication system is simplified.

The data structure described in FIG. 4 is configured, and when an incoming call arrives, Let us assume that the telephone ST h-1 is connected to the telephone ST h-1. After this, as shown in Figure 7 FF button (if present) and/or CA button for incoming calls. The step of allocating a link is performed. I wonder if there is an FF button on the call? It will be judged. If not, step 706 is executed. If the FF button If a call type exists, steps 702-705 select a call type that matches the type of incoming call. All function buttons on telephone 5TA-1 (i.e., on telephone 5TA-1 in Figure 4) Search for button 1l-34)' on TA-1.

In step 703, if a match for the FF button is found (for example, the button in FIG. 11-), 713 and 714, the associated telephone button button In the status table (for example, 404 in Figure 4), indicate the function button that should be flashed. The status is set and the call rD associated with the incoming call is stored.

In step 706, the system also selects a call appearance button for the incoming call. attempt to allocate a link.

Status table OCA to search for free call appearances for telephone 5TA-1 A search is performed through the buttons (buttons 1-10). If a free call appears, If the program does not exist, the program returns to the main program (712) and returns to the function (FF ) button starts flashing. (This allows the phone to wait for a free call to appear.) Incoming calls related to the FF will be displayed even when the user does not have access to the FF.

) If a free call 7 peerance exists, the number is checked in step 707. It will be done. If only one call appearance (CA) is available, the received call has priority. If not, the program returns to the main program at step 708 (712). . - Therefore, reservations are made as in steps 707 and 708. Obviously, the CA button is Other calls of the second type can also be reserved. Furthermore, 802 in FIG. The CA button initiates a call even if it is the last OCA button, as shown in It can be used for. Again, this is a design choice. Moshihito If more than one call appearance exists or only one call appearance is free If this is a priority call that arrives at telephone 5TA-1, A first free call appearance button on the phone is dynamically assigned. system control the visual display on the LED status of this call appearance button. Set to flash, 710, call rD is recorded in the button status table for that button. It is remembered (711). Figure 7 shows the feature buttons that match the call type when a call arrives. button is selected and, if available, an empty call appearance button is selected and this button is selected. button updates the associated light to indicate that an incoming phone call is displayed. I'm watching.

With reference to FIGS. 4 and 8, when telephone 5TA-1 is in any state Let us assume that a button is pressed on the telephone, 800. Program taken here An outline of the ram operation is shown in FIG. Once the button is pressed, step 801 is reached. As shown, it is determined whether this is a function button. This is the voltage shown in Figure 4. This is done by checking the machine translation table. If the pressed button works If the button is, for example, button 34, the program For that feature button, the system selects the call type and name from the button status table 405. get.

After that, in step 8 (19) the program calls all calls on telephone 5TA-1. Explore the button status table for appearance buttons (1-10) and Find the call appearance associated with the ID. The CA button indicates that a call has arrived at the phone. When dynamically allocated, the associated call appearance (if it exists ) are not always the same buttons, so some exploration is required. Regarding this call ID If there are consecutive call appearance buttons, steps 810 and 811 are performed. , the program handles the call as if the CA button had been pressed. this Let's assume that the action was performed. In step 805, the program The call appearance button r-use LE D is turned on. If that If the button is empty, 806, and telephone 5TA-1 is on-hook, 812 , return to the main program without closing the program, 816° If the button is empty, If telephone 5TA-1 is off-hook, the program initiates a telephone call, 80 7. Phone 5TA-1 is on-hook, 814, program flashes Ignore it and return to the main program 816. If the button is flashing and the 5T If A-1 is off-hook, the telephone call is answered, 815° Another case occurs when button 8Q2 is pressed.

In such cases, appropriate normal call processing steps 804.805.806.8 07.812-816 are executed.

If the pressed button is the FF (801’l or CA (802>) button, the The program executes the function initiated by the dedicated button (see 205 in Figure 2). and then return control to the main program by pressing the button 816° shown in Figure 8. In the third possible case of lowering, the function button is pressed and the In this case, no call appearance is found for that call ID. At this point 817 , if the feature button is flashing and there is a free call appearance, the 81 8. If the phone is off-hook, the 819 program will call that free call Answer the call with Lance. The CA button is dynamic for calls that arrive at the phone. , so you can search for all OCA buttons by clicking an empty button. is necessary. If either steps 818, 819 or 820 are negative If so, the program returns to the main program, 816° The answering and calling subroutines are as shown in Figure 9. It's your own machine. Obviously, answering and calling are separate functions when it comes to overall system operation. be.

These subroutines are found in various places in handling generic call appearances. Ru. From the phone's point of view, these subroutines have identical functionality and run The screen now shows the current state of the phone. The call originates from your phone. The answer or call is supported by the main program when the call is called or answered. Brutin is called. The status LED for a given call appearance button is 901, calls made and answered with the button will be turned on and the state of the phone will be This information is stored in a button stator such as 402 in FIG. stored in the table. The subroutine is used to determine whether the FF button exists. To explore all the function buttons on the phone set, press the 903° Moshi FF button If no subroutine 90 exists, subroutine 90 returns to the main program. If FF button If exists, these buttons will be checked and the call will now be answered or made. It is determined whether there is a button for the same call type as the call being accessed.゛These are the first These are steps 904-907 shown in Figure 9.

If no FF button with the same call type is found, the subroutine returns to the main program. Return to RAM 907° If an FF button matching the call type is found, the status I, EDH is set on, 908, F along with call ID in step -909. It is stored in the F button status table (eg 404 in FIG. 4). With these people, Subroutine returns to main program, 907° Another behavior to consider is what happens when the phone goes off-hook. Fortune-telling The operations performed by the RAM are shown in FIG. Just in case your phone goes off-hook, 10 00, all call appearances (CA) of that phone are checked and I-u se You can check whether the LED is on. This is step 10 01. If r-use LE is turned on on that phone If D does not exist, the subroutine returns to the main program, 1004° if I -use If LED is on, the subroutine will respond to the status LED. to make a call or reply. (As shown in Figure 9) This is the same as in Figure 10. Shown in steps 1002 and 1003.

The last possible state change is for the phone to go on-hook. This subroutine This is shown in FIG.

After going on-hook, 1100, the subroutine is I-use L on the phone. Check if there is a call appearance (CA) with E D turned on. Ru. If it does not exist, no further action is taken and the subroutine is Return control to the gram, 1111゜If it is on, I-use L　E　 If D exists, the subroutine displays the status LED (!: Turn off the I-use LED, 1102; display its button status table (e.g. , 402 in FIG. For example, clear the call ID from 501) in Figure 5, and clear the call ID from 1104: the telephone status table. Return the on-hook to the on-hook. Next, does the subroutine have an FF button? 11o5゜If the FF button does not exist, the subroutine Return to main program, 1111° If the FF button is present, the subroutine will then do everything related to that phone. The 1106° subroutine tests the function button of the call appearance button. Check the feature (F'F) button with the same call ID as the call that was just dropped. too If an FF button with a matching call ID is found, the status of that OFF button is The call is cleared from the button status table (404 in Figure 4). be done. The subroutine then returns control to the main program, 1111° The last state change that affects the phone is that there is a conference call set up.

This conference call is generally initiated by the telephone set or the other party on the call. . For purposes of this feature, a conference call may be requested in any known manner. summons Using the status 601 in some way, the system allows two calls on the phone to conference with each other. determine what to do. The functions of the present invention regarding the conference function subroutine are shown in FIG. Illustrated. The system knows the call IDs of both calls to be conferenced. . The first step is to explore all call appearances on the phone and, in this example, The task is to find the call appearance with ID number 2 (call rD2). sub blue Chin searches until it finds a call appearance (CA) button that has 2 than call ing. If no such CA button is found, the subroutine will Return to Gram, 1213° If a button with call ID 2 is found, 1205; The status of that button is turned off, the call ID is cleared, 1206° (all (i.e. in a button status table such as 402 in FIG. 4). After this, sub The routine checks if the FF button is present. If it does not exist, The routine returns to the main program, 1213° if the FF button exists, The bluetin checks the All OFF button on the phone and selects the FF associated with call ID2. Look for the button. The subroutine examines all FF buttons and assigns them to call ID2. When you find a call ID in the button status table, the content of the call ID is D number is changed to 1, and this is done with all possible FF buttons. these The steps are shown at 1209-1211 in FIG. After this, Sable Return to main program, 1213° What has been described above is merely illustrative of the present invention.

Many other configurations and methods can be implemented by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is clear that this can be achieved.

FIG. 2 h FIG. 5 FIG, +2 international search report

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. having a telephone with common control and the ability to receive communications of the first and second type; , the telephone has a first type of communication for initiating the first type of communication with the telephone; In a communication method that has a button, The common control is responsive to the received first type or second type communication at the called telephone; suitable for assigning the first type of button on the called telephone to the communication; A communication method characterized by 2. The set of telephones according to claim 1 is capable of initiating the second type of communication. In communication methods including means that can The common control is In response to operation of the initiating means on the telephone, the first type of button on the telephone is activated. suitable for allocating a button to the second type of communication. A communication method characterized by: 3. In the communication method according to claim 2, the second type of communication is Communication characterized in that the means for initiating on the handset is a button of the second type method. 4. In the communication system according to claim 3, the second type of the telephone The button has an associated visual display and the common control The associated visual display is controlled in response to the operation of the second type of button. A communication method characterized by the fact that it is turned upside down. 5. In the communication system according to claim 1, the common control is of the first type. A communication device characterized in that a button controls a visual display. method. 6. In the communication method according to claim 1, the common control further includes: the first or second type of communication in response to activation of an initiating function in the telephone; A communication method characterized by the fact that it is designed to change the connection in order to initiate. 7. In the communication method according to claim 6, the starting function is A communication method characterized in that the button is a third type of button on the telephone. 8. The telephone according to claim 1 has at least two buttons of the first type. In a communication system with Reserve the first type of button on the phone to be assigned only for receiving calls. A communication method characterized by the fact that 9. The telephone according to claim 1 has at least two buttons of the first type. In a communication method having a button of the first type, the common control further includes one of the buttons of the first type. to only receive a predetermined number of communications of the second type. A communication method that is characterized by the fact that reservations are made for each day. 10. The telephone according to claim 1 has at least two buttons of the first type. In communication systems that have The common control further links one of the first type buttons to a plurality of the second type buttons. reception of a predetermined one of the communications or the plurality of first type buttons; for any of the first type of communication initiated on the phone using one of the A communication method characterized in that reservations are made to allocate the following information. 11. with common control and the ability to receive communications of the first type and the second type. a telephone set, the telephone set for initiating the first type of communication at the telephone set; A method of operating a communication system having a first button for the first or A method of operating a communication system, characterized in that it allocates a second type of communication. 12. The telephone according to claim 11 initiates the second type of communication. The method further comprises: in response to the operation of the initiating means in the telephone; A communication system characterized in that the second type of communication is assigned to a button. How to operate.